


Burden to Bear

by EmberForge



Series: Bad Things Happen to Flawed People [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jester Whump, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 03:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14968466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberForge/pseuds/EmberForge
Summary: It's been a long day, and all the Mighty Nein want to do is collect their reward and have a drink. That is, until Molly notices something off about one of his companions.





	Burden to Bear

**Author's Note:**

> Woohoo! Forty published works! Hope you enjoy this one!

Battling weird creatures was just another day in the life of the Mighty Nein, and this day was no exception. This time, it was some sort of oversized, rodent looking creatures covered in long spikes that could used as projectiles to shoot at their enemies. While it was easier to attack them from afar, the group had discovered that dealing damage up close proved to be much mor effective, if they could get close enough. Their ranged fighters provided an excellent distraction while Beau, Yasha, Molly, and Fjord snuck up close to deal the heavy damage.

Molly was just finishing off his own creature when he heard a shout of warning, and was barely able to turn around in time to see Fjord skewered by one of another creature's quills. He managed to stand there for a moment, shock blooming on his face, before his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the ground. Some part of Molly distantly noted that it was lucky that the quill had gone clean through and embedded itself into a distant tree, or else Fjord's injury would have just become a whole lot worse. 

He quickly shook it off and turned towards what appeared to be the last creature, currently engaged with Jester and Beau. He barely made it halfway to the beast, swords gleaming, when it let out a hideous roar and crumpled to the ground, revealing a fierce looking Yasha. She pulled her sword from its back and looked around for a moment before bringing it down to her side when it became apparent that there were no more threats remaining.

"FJOOOORD!" Jester screamed, suddenly free from combat. She ran over and effortlessly gathered him into her arms, smearing his blood all over the front of her skirt as she did so. Molly saw her muttering, and then a light emanated from her and went into Fjord, slowly closing his wounds. He suddenly woke up with a gasp, and the moment Jester saw his eyes open she crushed him to her chest.

"Fjord! Oh, I was so worried I'd lost you!"

"Wha'... what happened?"

"That evil giant hedgehog monster shot one of his quill things through your chest! It was so horrible!"

Fjord loped his arm around her and patted her on the back. "It's okay, Jes'. I'm fine, thanks to you. Now, could you let me go? You're crushing the breath from me a little."

Jester gasped and immediately dropped Fjord, who landed on the ground with an 'oof'. "I'm so sorry, Fjord!"

"It's alright, Jester. I'm just dandy." Fjord slowly pushed himself off the ground, then surveyed the rest of the group. "We're all in pretty rough shape. How about we loot the creatures and head back?"

"Agreed," Molly said, absentmindedly picking pine needles from his hair.

The only loot worth grabbing was the small pile in the creatures' nest, and after cutting off their heads as proof of kill, it was no time at all before the Mighty Nein were on the road headed back to town. Luckily the job wasn't too far out, and soon enough the team were walking on familiar dirt roads. 

Something felt off during their journey, and despite keeping a close eye on his companions, Molly couldn't quite figure out what it was. It was clear that everyone was exhausted, but that wasn't surprising considering their day. It was about halfway through their walk that he realised what was bothering him. Jester wasn't talking. Even running on nothing but a pastry and a prayer, Jester could always find something to say, so the fact that she'd barely said two sentences as they walked back unsettled him. Molly also picked up that she seemed to be slightly favouring one side, occasionally bringing her hand up as if massaging at a cramp, though it was almost imperceptible. He waited to see if anything more would happen, but as things didn't get any worse, he didn't say anything about the matter. Once they finally made it back inside the gates, Beau stopped to address the rest of the group.

"Alright, so, who wants to drop off the goods to Zabril?

Molly surveyed everyone as he stood there, thinking. He had a hunch, and wanted to see if it was right. "You're going to need quite a few hands to get those heads across town. How about the rest of you go, and Jester and I will head back to the inn? That man was afraid of his own shadow, and jumpy as fuck with tieflings around. It might be better if we hang back and let you guys handle it." He wrapped his arm around Jester's waist in a friendly manner, uncaring of the blood that stained her shirt, from Fjord's earlier close call. He felt the smallest flinch in response to his touch, and his suspicions were confirmed.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Caleb replied agreeably. "Alright, let's go collect our reward from the racist coward."

"Don't worry," Nott whispered to them. "I'll steal something for you. Something good."

Molly chuckled as the rest of the group left, Nott running after to catch up. "Come on, Jester. I'll buy you a drink when we get back."

"Can we maybe order some pastries as well?"

"Of course! If they have them, anyway."

They made quick work of getting back to the inn. Molly kept a light conversation going, letting his voice fill most of the chatter between them as he kept an eye to make sure she was doing alright. When they got inside, he bypassed the bar, leading Jester towards the stairs instead. Her face was confused, though she didn't stop letting him lead her. "Aren't we getting a drink?" she asked.

"Yes, but I told you it was my treat, and unfortunately I left my money upstairs," Molly lied. "Just come with me for a second while I get it. We should maybe change, too. Don't want the other patrons losing their appetite because of our grime." He led her upstairs and into his own room, and as soon as she stepped in, he closed the door and turned to look at her.

"Molly? What's going on?"

"I could ask you the same question."

There was a flash of indistinguishable emotion in her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your side, Jester. I noticed the way you flinched when I touched you."

She looked as if she was about to lie, but then changed her mind and turned to stare at the floor. "It's nothing."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, hmm?" Molly asked. "Please. I'd like to make sure you're alright."

Jester hesitated, then said, "Okay."

Molly let her settle herself on the bed while he gathered a few supplies her thought he might need, then pulled up a chair to sit in front of her. "Alright. Let's see what we're working with."

Modesty had gone out the window the minute they'd stepped into that bathhouse back in Zadash, but then again, Jester wasn't much of the type to care either way. She quickly and efficiently stripped her leather armor off, then started to work at her blouse. Fjord's blood had really gotten everywhere, and dried blood had stuck her blouse to her body. Molly carefully helped her roll it up until he could get at her abdomen.

There was a long, clean gash there, about six inches in length on her left side. "Did this happen during the fight?" he murmured as he studied the wound.

"Yeah. The big ugly one got me. It didn't hurt much, though," she said. " _Then_ ," she amended, her eyes narrowing as she shifted a little and felt a sting of pain run along the affected area.

The aggravation of the wound had caused it to start bleeding all over again, and between that and Fjord's blood that had soaked through her clothes, her abdomen was covered in splotches of red. Deciding to deal with more pressing needs first, Molly poked and prodded around the wound to see how deep it went. Jester scrunched up her face at the pain it caused, but she said nothing as he finished his examination.

"It's deep, but not too deep, I think," he said. "Which means that this is the perfect time to use _this_." He brought out a jar of salve, holding it up in front of her with a triumphant grin. "Restorative Ointment. May the gods bless Pumat and all of his many selves."

"Ooh! I've heard of that stuff before! That's some good shit," Jester said. "Are you sure you should be wasting it on me though?"

"Darling, nothing could ever be wasted on you," Molly told her charmingly. He let it warm in his hands for a moment before he spread a thick layer over the gash. Immediately, Jester felt the area go cold, then tingly warm as it started working. Molly wiped off the excess on his hands with a rag before unrolling a roll of bandages. "Lean forward, if you would?"

He made quick work of wrapping the bandages around her abdomen, making sure it was secure before tying it off with a little superfluous bow that he knew she'd enjoy. "There. I don't think you'll even need a healing spell for that in the morning."

"Oh, thank you, Molly!" Jester exclaimed, mindful of her injury as she threw her arms around him in a hug. Molly chuckled as he returned it, then pulled back to look at her. "One more thing. Let's get you cleaned up, and then you'll be good as new."

He dipped another cloth in warm water and methodically started to clean the dried blood from her exposed skin. He worked quietly for a few minutes, scrubbing away, until he reached a particular bit under her ribs that wouldn't rub away. He quickly realized that it was actually a brilliant bruise, spanning about the length of his hand across on her right side.

"And what's this?" he asked. Jester looked down to the area he was indicating.

"Oh, that was just from those owlbears last week. It's fine."

"That's a pretty bad bruise if it's still that dark a week later." Molly carefully palpated around the area, looking for broken or sprained ribs, but he didn't seem to find anything. "Why haven't you healed it already?"

"I didn't see any point in doing so."

"Besides the fact that you're hurt and don't have to be?"

"It's just a bruise. And it really wasn't bothering me-" she flinched when Molly pressed a little too close to the area again as he wiped away the last of the blood on her torso, "-at all."

"It's okay to heal yourself too, you know," Molly told her as he cleaned up supplies while she readjusted her clothing over the bandages.

"No, it's not okay!" The frustrated exclamation made Molly stop what he was doing to look at her, surprised. "Cause you guys are a bunch of dummies and get hurt all the time! Like, really, really hurt. And then sometimes you pass out, and you almost die, and I have to heal you before you can because I don't have any diamonds! If you died for good it would be all my fault, especially if I wasted a spell when I could have used it to save you guys instead!" Her voice had risen over the course of her speech, and now she was panting, trying to regain her breath.

Molly's shock at her outburst dissolved quickly. He immediately put an arm around her, pulling her to his side "Oh, darling," he said. "That's not your burden to bear. We're all adults. You can't hold yourself responsible every time we put ourselves into harm's way."

"But I _have_ to. I'm the cleric," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"You're not _the_ cleric, you're _a_ cleric." He rubbed her arm soothingly. "You're _the_ Jester, and that's much more important to us. You need to take care of yourself, sweetheart. Nobody wants you hurting for our sake."

Molly felt his sleeve becoming damp and realised that Jester was silently crying into his shoulder. He just held her close for as long as she needed, giving her time to compose herself. "I'm sorry, Molly," she whispered, finally. "I've never had friends to care about like this before."

"Well, I can't say I have that much more experience than you, but I can tell you this: caring is a two way street. We care about you, too, and that's why I want you to take care of yourself, okay? The others would all say the same."

Jester finally pulled her face away from his shoulder. Her eyes were bright from crying as she stared up at him. "Yeah, okay."

"That's my girl," he said. "Now, I believe I owed you a drink and a pastry. Shall we go find out what our lovely hosts have to offer downstairs?"

Jester took Molly's hand, and together the two went down to the bar to wait for the rest of their group to return.

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it again. Let me know what you think! Have an idea that you want to see me write? Let me know here, or find me on tumblr under the same username!


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